When trying to describe this movie, I kind of think of it as a cross between Bound, Weekend at Bernies, and a good heist film. Personally, I could have used a bit more Bound, but maybe that's just me. But hey, because this movie isn't Bound I suppose it gives it a wider appeal (i.e. the other half of the species). The long and short of this movie is that Rachel Weisz (The Mummy) and Susan Lynch (Waking Ned Divine) are phenomenal in this film. They are both great actors, and their roles are brilliant. The writing and story are both great in this movie. In fact, even when taken out of context, some of the lines are pretty hilarious (said while watching a barely coherent man babble like an idiot):
"What's the matter with him? Is he German?"
Ha! Well, ok, maybe the lines still need to be heard in context. Regardless, the film is a lot of fun. There is a lot of intrigue, and while you may guess how the film will end, there is NO way you're going to figure out how they get there. Another good Brit comedy... but with less darkness and depression than the usual UK comedy. Recommended.
Movie to Skip: Goth
I'm not really sure what to make out of this one. Is it a morality play? A warning about the "real" goth community? Live for death? Embrace your fears? Don't take candy from strangers? This is a weird movie about a pseduo-goth couple that hook up with otherworldly hardcore goth named... well, Goth (yeah, the script really is that heavy handed -- if this movie had been called "Cross-Dressers", one of the characters would have been named "Cross-Dresser" and would have been the 'queen' of matching purses and shoes). Goth turns out to be a twisted tour guide as she takes the couple on a whirlwind van ride through debauchery of just about every flavor you can imagine: sex, drugs, pain, murder.... rape? Oh, yeah, and about halfway through it we also find out it's a murder mystery. WTF?! Oddly, once we get to that point, the heroine's actions (played by the attractive, but poor actor, Laura Reilly) don't really make any sense. And, come to think of it, neither do the actions before we find that out. In fact, none of this movie makes a lot of sense. My guess is that this is supposed to be a "rabbit hole" adventure that starts when our heroine takes the drug "white light" given to her by Goth within the first few minutes of the film and is supposed to make us question the veracity of what we're seeing. Unfortunately, that idea wasn't really carried through well enough for me to buy into it.
This was a bizarre movie, but it wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be. There really are some pathetic actors in this film, but there is one standout. Although I worried she was going to suck after her first few minutes on screen, Phoebe Dollar, who played the title role, was actually pretty decent. Her performance isn't consistent, but for the most part she makes a fairly convincing psychopath.
It's a disjointed film where the character's motivations are unconvincing and the actors even less so. Still, for an honest-to-goodness B-movie, I've certainly seen worse. The movie was bad, but bad movies are ok now and then. I don't recommend this one to anyone, but you never know... you might get a kick out of it.
